Current:Home > NewsChicken wings advertised as ‘boneless’ can have bones, Ohio Supreme Court decides -Legacy Profit Partners
Chicken wings advertised as ‘boneless’ can have bones, Ohio Supreme Court decides
View
Date:2025-04-13 08:25:28
Consumers cannot expect boneless chicken wings to actually be free of bones, a divided Ohio Supreme Court ruled Thursday, rejecting claims by a restaurant patron who suffered serious medical complications from getting a bone stuck in his throat.
Michael Berkheimer was dining with his wife and friends at a wing joint in Hamilton, Ohio, and had ordered the usual — boneless wings with parmesan garlic sauce — when he felt a bite-size piece of meat go down the wrong way. Three days later, feverish and unable to keep food down, Berkeimer went to the emergency room, where a doctor discovered a long, thin bone that had torn his esophagus and caused an infection.
Berkheimer sued the restaurant, Wings on Brookwood, saying the restaurant failed to warn him that so-called “boneless wings” — which are, of course, nuggets of boneless, skinless breast meat — could contain bones. The suit also named the supplier and the farm that produced the chicken, claiming all were negligent.
In a 4-3 ruling, the Supreme Court said Thursday that “boneless wings” refers to a cooking style, and that Berkheimer should’ve been on guard against bones since it’s common knowledge that chickens have bones. The high court sided with lower courts that had dismissed Berkheimer’s suit.
“A diner reading ‘boneless wings’ on a menu would no more believe that the restaurant was warranting the absence of bones in the items than believe that the items were made from chicken wings, just as a person eating ‘chicken fingers’ would know that he had not been served fingers,” Justice Joseph T. Deters wrote for the majority.
The dissenting justices called Deters’ reasoning “utter jabberwocky,” and said a jury should’ve been allowed to decide whether the restaurant was negligent in serving Berkheimer a piece of chicken that was advertised as boneless.
“The question must be asked: Does anyone really believe that the parents in this country who feed their young children boneless wings or chicken tenders or chicken nuggets or chicken fingers expect bones to be in the chicken? Of course they don’t,” Justice Michael P. Donnelly wrote in dissent. “When they read the word ‘boneless,’ they think that it means ‘without bones,’ as do all sensible people.”
veryGood! (17477)
Related
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- Jacques Delors, architect of the modern EU and ‘Mr. Europe,’ dies aged 98
- Neighboring New Jersey towns will have brothers as mayors next year
- TikToker Mikayla Nogueira Addresses Claim She Lost 30 Lbs. on Ozempic
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- As pandemic unfolded, deaths of older adults in Pennsylvania rose steeply in abuse or neglect cases
- Mississippi health department says some medical marijuana products are being retested for safety
- US announces new weapons package for Ukraine, as funds dwindle and Congress is stalled on aid bill
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- Russell Hamler, thought to be the last of WWII Merrill’s Marauders jungle-fighting unit, dies at 99
Ranking
- Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
- Can you sell unwanted gift cards for cash? Here's what you need to know
- Flag football gives female players sense of community, scholarship options and soon shot at Olympics
- Fox News Radio and sports reporter Matt Napolitano dead at 33 from infection, husband says
- The White House is cracking down on overdraft fees
- Drunk drivers crash into accident scene in Portland, nearly hit officer: Reports
- 'Pretty Baby' chronicles Brooke Shields' career and the sexualization of young girls
- 6 dead, 3 injured in head-on car crash in Johnson County, Texas, Hwy 67 closed
Recommendation
South Korean president's party divided over defiant martial law speech
Takeaways from AP investigation into Russia’s cover-up of deaths caused by dam explosion in Ukraine
More cold-case sexual assault charges for man accused of 2003 Philadelphia rape and slaying
New Toyota, Subaru and more debut at the 2023 L.A. Auto Show
What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
Family of Iowa teen killed by police files a lawsuit saying officers should have been better trained
Myopia affects 4 in 10 people and may soon affect 5 in 10. Here's what it is and how to treat it.
University of Wisconsin system fires chancellor for reputation-damaging behavior